Are you a small minority? Is your evidence credible to all Jews?

10/25/06

Dear Rabbi,

My name is Khalil and I am a Muslim. The situation in Palestine/Israel is really upsetting especially now with the violence between Lebanon and Israel. I have met many people who support Israel's existence and the actions they take, and so finding this website is a breath of fresh air. However are the views expressed by you held by a small minority and are your sources and evidence credible in the Jewish community? If I wanted to debate with other Jews would I be setting myself up for failure if I expressed these anti-Zionism views? Please let me know

Dear Khalil,

Our views are the authentic views of the Jewish Torah, Bible, Talmud, and post-Talmudic Jewish scholars. They are held by thousands of Jews around the world who believe in the authority of those texts. However, there are unfortunately many Jews who do not accept the authority of the Torah, yet claim to speak in the name of the Jewish people. These Jews violate all the other laws of the Torah, so one must not find it surprising that they violate the laws prohibiting us from founding a Jewish state as well.

There are also some Orthodox Jews who do keep most of the laws of the Torah, yet are unaware that the Torah prohibits us from having a state or fighting wars. This ignorance is a most unfortunate situation, and we are doing our best to correct it. Yes, our sources are credible to all religious Jews, and it is only a matter of getting people to look at the sources with an honest eye.

As of now, we estimate that around 50% of Orthodox Jews agree with our views (around 500,000 out of the 1 million Orthodox in America, and 500,000 out of the 1 million in the State of Israel, with a few thousand more in other countries such as the UK and Canada). This percentage is rising due to the higher birthrate and higher retention rate in the more traditionally Orthodox world.

We too are saddened by the continual state of warfare in the Holy Land, and by the recent outbreak of violence. Perhaps these terrible events will awaken those ignorant Jews to the realization that the Zionist state is no benefit even to them: that it has cost thousands of lives, and has made the Holy Land into the world's most dangerous place for Jews, and that by its unfair treatment of the Palestinians it has given the Jewish people a negative image in the world, an image contrary to their rightful status as the People of the Book, the bearers of G-d's law. Already there are thousands of Jews who have come to realize the fundamental injustice done to the Palestinians in 1948 and oppose the settlers ongoing effort to control the land.

We sincerely hope that the Jewish people will not need any more death and destruction to teach them the folly of Zionism. Judaism, in its long history, has seen many other heretical movements arise within it, attempting to change basic principles of the Torah, such as the Sadducees, the Christians, the Karaites, and the Sabbateans. These movements are now either long gone or are not part of the Jewish people at all. Today we continue to stand with the pure, original Torah given at Sinai. We are confident that Zionism too will disappear in the course of time, and then peace and equality will be restored to the Middle East.